2 French brigades engage the Russian first line around Ailles. Note the fence lines are merely scenic.

The
villages of Ailles and Plaissy the anchors of the Russian 1st line proved
to be formidable obstacles to the French advance.This was not helped by some truly appalling
command rolls that repeatedly held up the French cavalry brigades and then later delayed
any serious attack on Plaissy for 4 turns.The main struggle was over this Russian first line which was reinforced
by the 2nd line infantry and cavalry. The French were lucky in that their first 2 Young Guard brigades proved to be regulars and not Marie-Louises.

Game map

Ailles
finally fell late in the afternoon.By
this point the survivors of the Russian first line and second lines except for
the garrison of Plaissy had withdrawn to regroup behind the steady third line
formed up near Bovelles Farm.The French
managed to take the farm but a final attack in the gathering gloom by the old Guard
was held by the Russians who were counter-attacking Bovelles Farm.

﻿

View of the action versus the Russian first line - second line have moved to support

In the gathering gloom at 6:30pm the Old Guard go in......the farm fell to the Young Guard

At
the end of the 3 game sessions we had played thru the complete day and at
sunset both sides were still engaged with the Russian line holding
strongly. So it was a Russian victory. In all after 14 turns of
play the Russians had lost 7 units and the French 5.At their lowest point the French had 3 broken
brigades.

I
hope to replay the game again soon.

End position -French right flank - the farm has fallen but the Russians are counter-attacking

Saturday, April 26, 2014

This was the latest Napoleonic game that I played at my house. The 200th anniversary of this battle fell on my birthday but I did not get round to staging the game for a further 2 weeks. We used Black Powder with 66% scale movement and ranges and my latest Napoleonic house rules. Here is the scenario, game map, order of battle and troop ratings. The photos from the game are on Flickr at

In early March 1814 Blücher was moving north with the intention of joining the Prussian corps of General Friederich von Bülow and the Russian corps of General Ferdinand von Winzengerode. By 5 March they had combined, giving Blücher over 100,000 men. The Emperor Napoleon believed that Blucher was retreating from him and planned to advance on Laon and attack the Army of Silesia’s rear with 30,000 troops of the Imperial Guard. However, on 6 March he learnt that there was a substantial enemy force on the Plateau of the Chemin Des Dames. He assumed that it was Blücher’s flank or rear guard and decided to attack the next day. In fact Blucher wanted Napoleon to attack the Russian infantry commanded by General Mikhail Vorontsov. His plan was that Winzengerode’s cavalry and General Friedrich von Kleist’s Prussian corps would then sweep round the French northern flank and attack their rear. This flanking attack had to move over difficult terrain that had not been properly reconnoitred. It consequently moved very slowly and failed to get into the action on the 7th. The French forces engaged at Craonne seemed to have been 17,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry. Whilst the Russians engaged 19,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry.

Sources
My main sources for this game were:
The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book by Digby Smith
Napoleon at Bay by F.Loraine Petre

Terrain
The battle was fought along the Chemin Des Dames ridge from east to west. I omitted the initial struggle for the village of Heurtebise and designed the game around the area of Ailles, Paissy and Cerny. As I don’t have a ridge 12ft long to fit on my table I represented the steep valleys, which led up the flanks of the ridge narrowing it at certain points, by placing areas of impassable terrain. The French start of table and have to be ordered on using the 3 entry points on the east end of the table. Only 1 brigade per turn may use an entry point. They could decide not to use the narrow route past Ailles but that would limit their entry points to 2 and delay their deployment.

Terrain map showing the 3 French entry points and the 3 Russian deployment lines. The table is 12ft by 6ft.

Objective/Timing
The game begins at 10am. The game ends at nightfall. Dusk falls at 6pm which limits visibility to 16” and night falls at 7 pm. Each turn is half an hour. The French move first. The French must drive the Russians off the table to win. If they fail the Russians win. The Broken brigade rule is in use and when more than half an armies brigades are broken the army must retire.

Command Levels
The commanders in chief are rated as 9 and 8 respectively. All infantry commanders are rated at 7 and cavalry commanders at 8. I have simplified the command levels by omitting the Corps commanders and each of the divisions is represented by a BP brigade.

There are 3 entry points for the French shown on the map. Only 1 brigade per turn may use an entry point. They can decide not to use the narrow route past Ailles but that would limit their entry points to 2 and delay their deployment.

Variable French troop quality. Dice for the quality of the French Young Guard brigades and Boyers line infantry brigade when first in action. On a 4, 5, 6 the Brigade is the higher quality given below:
Young Guard infantry = Marie Louises or Line infantry
Boyers infantry = Line infantry or Veteran infantry